Assessment of Alcohol Consumption as A Potential Risk Factor on Periodontal Attachment Loss: A Longitudinal Study

In this modern society of ours alcohol has become a tradition and this relationship is deeply rooted. Apart from other health risk issues, its use has also emerged as a possible risk factor for periodontitis in reported recent reviews. Numerous prospective studies are already reported in literature but lack of such longitudinal studies to review the association of alcohol consumption on periodontal health status of the patients are rare. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship of alcohol consumption as a potential risk factor on periodontal attachment loss. It is a population-based cohort study conducted for a period of 4 years. A total of 1385 individuals were included in the study and only 730 individuals were left for the follow up after 4 years. Alcohol consumption and clinical examination for clinical attachment loss was recorded for each patient. Majority of subjects belonging to age group 35-44yrs, 45-54 yrs and 55-64 yrs showed high frequency intake of alcohol. Overall when measured, alcohol consumption and CAL progression was found to be significantly higher in males as compared to females. The subjects who were high and chronic drinkers, had 40% higher risk for CAL progression than non-drinkers. We concluded a positive linear relationship of alcohol consumption and periodontal attachment loss with more pronounced effect on males as compared to females. Thus alcohol proves to be a potential risk factor in progression of periodontitis in both high and chronic alcohol dosage.